<HTML>In a message dated 9/5/01 12:20:02 PM Central Daylight Time, rbrekne@broadpark.no writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Something on another thread, and it reminded me Wim is off to start a new job working at a University after many years owning and opereating a store. And I got to thinking it would be nice to know how everything is going, an interesting transition to be sure. I hope and trust all goes well ? Richard Brekne </BLOCKQUOTE> For now everything is going great. I love the job, and so far, (knock on wood), no complaints. As I mentioned earlier, perhaps it's the honeymoon stage. But the pianos in the department have not had the best of care for the past 25 years. The previous tech was an excellent tuner, but his technical skills were "good" at best. Certainly not up to university standards. The reason they had to keep him is because of the policies of working at a university. He wasn't doing "bad" work, and he wasn't breaking any laws. So they couldn't fire him. They had to wait until he retired. As I said back in July, this is a fantastic career move for me. Perhaps not everyone was in a the position I was in. I had a BIG debt load left over from the store, that would have taken me 3 - 4 years to pay off. This move allows me to pay off that debt, and work in a job with a steady paycheck, health insurance. And between Jan and I, we will have a chance to make almost as much tuning on the outside as I can make at the university. I am not sure if working for a university is for everyone. As some other current and past university techs have mentioned, there are going to be some problems down the road. I am not worried about my technical skills, and I think I can handle personality problems. I have to wait until those problem arise to make a judgment. I have a very supportive department chairman, and the piano faculty is very happy to have me here. I will let everyone know if and when the bubble busts. Wim</HTML>